Anastasia's P.O.V.-
We were eating our lunch outside in the meadow; students technically weren't supposed to eat outside the cafeteria, but they were always more lenient with weaker herbivores like us. Well, most of us.
The rest of the journalism club members were not happy with coach Lederhosen. In their minds, he had no right to demand another article from us so soon; especially with the spring festival coming up. We had more than enough work preparing for that on top of our usual load. But I volunteered to write up a small piece and fill in the blanks with a bunch of pictures. Despite everything, I don't want that hot wolf getting into trouble. Wolf! I mean just regular wolf… My eyes gazed off into space without my realizing. He is a wolf… an alpha wolf.
"Hello? Earth to Anny?" Kate's fingers snapping in front of my face broke my train of thought. My head dashed over her way as I blinked several times. "Huh?" "I just asked what you thought of our geometry test this morning." "What? Oh, it was fine." "Fine? We've been studying for that test for weeks and it only went "fine"?" What did she want me to say? It was fine- just fine. To be honest, I hadn't been thinking much about math right now. No, instead I've been feeling all weird lately. It only got worse whenever I thought about that hunky wolf. Regular wolf, I mean! God, what's wrong with me? Why can't I get that first interaction out of my head? Was it because he was a carnivore so much like the one who recently attacked me? Is this some weird kind of reverse Stockholm syndrome? There's definitely something wrong with me and I can't figure out what.
"Well, I think the test was pretty east," Jose grinned smartly. Kate fired off a look his way. "Course you did; you're like a math genius." "Hey! It's not my fault I study more and pay attention in class." "We do that too, don't we Anny? Anny?" I felt Kate's stare on me again. "O-oh yeah, we do…" This made Kate's face twist with a sort of concern. "Are you sure you're ok, girl? Gasp! Don't tell me… did Clarise confront you again?!" Clarise? Oh yeah, she was pissed at me… because her boyfriend "confessed" to me. How could I have forgotten about that conversation I had with her? "Get this straight, lambchop! Stay away from my boyfriend! He's mine, got that?!" I forgot all about that confrontation….
For Kate's sake, I made myself visibly relax as I flashed her a forced smile. "N-no, she didn't. I'm fine; really. Just a little tired, that's all." "I don't blame you, what with dealing with that sadistic Lederhosen and those carnivores," Jose told me. "Carnivores?" Kate turned to me in confusion. Oh great, why'd he have to bring them up? Talk about awkward. Now I really had to force my grin. "Er, they're just some guys from the football team who asked about the article. Nothing happened; it went alright." "What kind of carnivores were they?" Before I could answer, Jose cut in. "A fox and wolf." "Did you say wolf?!" Kate gasped a second time. I internally winced. No, I really don't want to talk about him; I'm already feeling weird enough as it is.
"H-hey! Uh… uh… why don't we go see a movie tonight?!" I made my desperate attempt to change the subject. They both looked at me startled and mildly perplexed. "A movie?" "Y-yeah, tonight!" "I can't tonight. Got an English paper due tomorrow," Jose sighed like he was disappointed. That's good! We're moving away from you-know-what. I wanted to keep the ball rolling so I smiled once again. "That's ok. How about tomorrow night, or this weekend?" "We're going to Paul's football game this Friday night, Anny- remember?" Kate replied. "Football game?" This caught me off guard. She nodded. "You said you'd go." I did? That doesn't sound like something I'd do; I didn't like football in the least. But if it was for Paul, then…
"Speaking of Paul, where is the bastard? He said he'd come right after class," Jose glanced around. "He's probably busy with his football friends," Kate took a bite of her pickle and peanut butter sandwich; not a combo I'd ever choose. Then, like ironic clockwork, guess who showed up. "Hey, you guys!" We all glanced to see Paul approaching us, waving his hand in the air. I smiled and waved back while the other two gave him one of those "looks". "Sorry I'm late." "And where have you been? Shuffling through your scores of fans again?" "Not today," Paul laughed; he wasn't one to let Kate's humour get the better of him. Then he grinned warmly and came to sit down beside me. We looked at each other.
"Hey, Anny. I'm sorry about coach; he's been pissy since we lost to Stanford." "Oh….. oh, no! No, it's no trouble." "It kinda is," Jose rolled his eyes and I shot him a glare. Paul merely widened his grin and placed his strong hand on my forearm. "If you can't do it, don't worry. Just tell me and let me deal with coach, ok?" "Then he'll yell at you, Paul! I can't do that," I looked at him suddenly worried. He chuckled softly. "That's ok, so long as he's not yelling at you," as he said this, he moved his hand off my arm to brush a few stray hairs off my forehead. Paul… I watched him, unsure what to do or say next. He sure was touchy-feely with me lately; not that it was a bad thing! I wouldn't say that I minded, it just… confused me. And here I thought guys only touched girls they liked that way. But Paul was a friend only, right? "What about Paul?! He's definitely got a thing for you!" Right?
We talked casually a bit longer about random stuff, then the bell rang- lunch was over. We all got up, put our trays inside, and started to head for class. Before I left however, Paul caught hold of my arm, making me blink back to him in surprise. "What?" I cocked my head with an awkward side grin. "Listen, Ana. There's something I want to ask you. Can…. we meet after school out by the large oak tree, alone?" Alone…. Wait, why should this bother me? Paul and I had been alone with each other hundreds of times. There's nothing wrong with that. I smiled up at him and nodded gently. This made a humongous smile also grow across his lips. He released my arm and took a step backwards. "Ok, then. After school by the oak tree." "I'll be there," I reassured him. We waved at one another before I spun back around and kept heading to class.